A few weeks ago, Singaporean blogger Xiaxue, nee Wendy Chang, got fed up with being jeered at on Twitter by YouTube comedian, Peter Coffin, and his “Japanese” “girlfriend,” “Kimi Kobayashi.” After some sleuthing, Chang discovered that Coffin's 8-month-long relationship with “Kobayashi” was actually a creation of Coffin's himself, i.e. he was posing as his own girlfriend, and he had been flirting with himself through several social networking sites. Now, of course, if you're going to purport a relationship on the Internet to show how hot and exotic the girlfriend you managed to score is, you're going to need pics (or it didn't happen). Coffin reportedly used pictures of Lee Na Young, a Korean ulzzang.[1] So Kimi Kobayashi is not really Japanese, not Coffin's girlfriend, and does not even exist!
Perhaps Peter Coffin could have used the assistance of Cloud Girlfriend, a developing company who boasts the specialty of creating the ideal Facebook girlfriend out of thin air for its users... for free! Cloud Girlfriend co-founder David Fuhriman says that the “girlfriend” will publicly interact with the user via Facebook by posting on the user's wall and whatnot, all of which will be left by a real human being, not an automated robot (i.e. someone will pretend to be your girlfriend via Facebook... it's only slightly better than if your Cloud Girlfriend was a robot).
What's the thought process behind Cloud Girlfriend? Fuhriman says that it can help guys get a girlfriend, because “if visitors go to your Facebook profile to see wall posts from your imaginary sweetheart, they might think, 'Someone else thinks highly enough of this person to date him, so maybe I should too.'” [2] So... Fuhriman's company will enable lurkers who are apt to selfishly ruin seemingly good, albeit fake, relationships. Fuhriman also claims that the site has “therapeutic value and can fulfill psychological needs like intimacy and friendship even though the interaction is virtual... these interactions can even build self confidence and help users navigate real-life situations.” [2] In this regard, Cloud Girlfriend is not unlike situations on social networking sites or places like Second Life where people seek out virtual significant others.
Internet relationships are mixed blessings. The Internet allows for men and women with like interests from all over the world to meet and connect with ease, and it provides an opportunity for those who are shy or otherwise inhibited from meeting partners in real life. However, Internet relationships can easily spiral into Internet abuse, as the user may become overly dependent on his or her e-lover.
Why Cloud Girlfriend only caters to men on Facebook is beyond me, but it's only a matter of time before Facebook pulls the plug since Zuckerberg and co. don't like spammy accounts up the wazoo.
P.S. The whole sordid and racist Coffin-Kobayashi affair generated quite a bit of hate addressed towards Coffin, who claims that he did not create Kobayashi, but was actually the victim of someone else's identity games. He even started crying in his interview with Runnin' Scared, but there is a lot of evidence that says Kobayashi really was just a manifestation of Coffin. [3]
Overview
A few weeks ago, Singaporean blogger Xiaxue, nee Wendy Chang, got fed up with being jeered at on Twitter by YouTube comedian, Peter Coffin, and his “Japanese” “girlfriend,” “Kimi Kobayashi.” After some sleuthing, Chang discovered that Coffin's 8-month-long relationship with “Kobayashi” was actually a creation of Coffin's himself, i.e. he was posing as his own girlfriend, and he had been flirting with himself through several social networking sites. Now, of course, if you're going to purport a relationship on the Internet to show how hot and exotic the girlfriend you managed to score is, you're going to need pics (or it didn't happen). Coffin reportedly used pictures of Lee Na Young, a Korean ulzzang.[1] So Kimi Kobayashi is not really Japanese, not Coffin's girlfriend, and does not even exist!
Perhaps Peter Coffin could have used the assistance of Cloud Girlfriend, a developing company who boasts the specialty of creating the ideal Facebook girlfriend out of thin air for its users... for free! Cloud Girlfriend co-founder David Fuhriman says that the “girlfriend” will publicly interact with the user via Facebook by posting on the user's wall and whatnot, all of which will be left by a real human being, not an automated robot (i.e. someone will pretend to be your girlfriend via Facebook... it's only slightly better than if your Cloud Girlfriend was a robot).
What's the thought process behind Cloud Girlfriend? Fuhriman says that it can help guys get a girlfriend, because “if visitors go to your Facebook profile to see wall posts from your imaginary sweetheart, they might think, 'Someone else thinks highly enough of this person to date him, so maybe I should too.'” [2] So... Fuhriman's company will enable lurkers who are apt to selfishly ruin seemingly good, albeit fake, relationships. Fuhriman also claims that the site has “therapeutic value and can fulfill psychological needs like intimacy and friendship even though the interaction is virtual... these interactions can even build self confidence and help users navigate real-life situations.” [2] In this regard, Cloud Girlfriend is not unlike situations on social networking sites or places like Second Life where people seek out virtual significant others.
Internet relationships are mixed blessings. The Internet allows for men and women with like interests from all over the world to meet and connect with ease, and it provides an opportunity for those who are shy or otherwise inhibited from meeting partners in real life. However, Internet relationships can easily spiral into Internet abuse, as the user may become overly dependent on his or her e-lover.
Why Cloud Girlfriend only caters to men on Facebook is beyond me, but it's only a matter of time before Facebook pulls the plug since Zuckerberg and co. don't like spammy accounts up the wazoo.
P.S. The whole sordid and racist Coffin-Kobayashi affair generated quite a bit of hate addressed towards Coffin, who claims that he did not create Kobayashi, but was actually the victim of someone else's identity games. He even started crying in his interview with Runnin' Scared, but there is a lot of evidence that says Kobayashi really was just a manifestation of Coffin. [3]
[1] http://thedailywhat.tumblr.com/post/4066723992/must-read-of-the-day-singaporean-blogger-wendy
[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/cloud-girlfriend-update-2011-3
[3] http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/03/peter_coffin_fake_girlfriend_xiaxue_asian.php
History
(There is no text here yet.)
Opinion
(There is no text here yet.)
Future Trends?
(There is no text here yet.)